Why does it matter if we move money from one year to another?

California was ranked 50th in the nation for per-pupil expenditure by Education Week in January 2014.

If we divert money to a “Rainy Day Fund” every time the State collects a little extra revenue, we have no chance of getting anywhere near average in public education funding in the country.

Proposition 2 says, as soon as schools’ share of state revenues is more than inflation tempered by headcount growth, put it aside. What does that mean? Let's keep public education underfunded.

If we don’t start investing in our kids, when we have a little extra, prisons will be the only possibility. Where, yes, California IS at or near the top in funding. See the analysis from Education Week below.

Education Week Analysis

California is ranked 50th in the nation for cost-adjusted per-pupil expenditures and 37th for state expenditures on K-12 schooling as a percent of state taxable resources, earning a D+ and ranking 37th overall for equity and adequacy of school finance.

Unsurprisingly, we also get a D+ (ranking 33rd) in Achievement overall. On standardized national tests, less than a third of our 4th or 8th graders are proficient in math or reading – leaving us ranked between 42nd and 47th in an objective measure of learning.

Our students’ overall “Chance for Success” in life ranks us 42nd in the nation – wedged between South Carolina and Oklahoma – behind Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Idaho, and Kentucky.

Detractors would say, but the 2014 report used 2010-11 data, and that was the worst year in California school funding! Well, it was a pretty dim year all over the nation. And California didn’t drop to 50th from the middle of the pack. It dropped from … 49th. And 48th the year before that. And 47th in 2009 (pre-recession 2006 data). So let’s smell the coffee.

If you care about public education and the children of California, vote NO on 2.